Help Raising money for StMarys hospital and RMHM

Hello,

We are raising money to thank St Mary's neonatal unit and Ronald Mcdonald House Manchester for what they have done for our son, we would also like to help the family with the cost of fuel with having 2 babies at two different hospitals

Some of you may know our story and some of you may not. So here it is......

On Tuesday 18th July Vinnie started becoming very upset at Blackpool hospital and hard to settle him. Wednesday morning came around and he was very much the same, I had gone to visit both the twins and Vinnie still had this cry as if he was in pain. I then had a cuddle to see if I could settle him myself but he was sick on my chest 4 times. A student nurse then came over and she mentioned the colour of his complexion, to which I agreed he looked a bit jaundice. This is when all Vinnie's examinations started.

He had bloods, xrays, scans, put back in fluids and started on 3 lots of antibiotics. We were told theyre treating him as though he has a medical condition called NEC.

Consultants were in contact with Manchester and the next thing we know he's being blue lighted to Manchester NICU. At Manchester they repeated all the examinations again and changed the 3 antibiotics to a different 3.

Now we have surgeons involved and little 9 day old Vinnie has NEC, this is inflammation/infection of the bowel that is basically killing the bowel. Vinnie now needs surgery.

Thursday morning rolls around and we are talking to a surgeon who is explaining everything that will happen and everything that may happen. Being told your son is the most critical baby in the unit is heart breaking.

We then waited 4 hours and got a knock on the door to say "were sorry but surgery can't go ahead Vinnie isn't strong enough for moving"

Instant heart ache and tears.

30 minutes later we have another knock on the door, the surgeon can't leave this case and is moving his theatre to the nicu unit. No one in, no one out!

A few hours pass and we're strolling the corridor, a consultant sees us and takes us to a room. The surgeons then came in to explain what had happened.

They had removed the damaged part of the bowel that also had 3 perforations in it. But then he had some internal bleeding from his liver.

We were told we had 1 to 2 hours left with out sweet boy.

Our boy made it past those 2 hours, so now we're told the next 4 hours are crucial.

Again our little fighter made it past those 4 hours. Then next 24 to 48 hours are a waiting game.

Friday came along and our boy is still here . The surgeon spoke to us again and he's going back into theatre to see if his internal bleeding had stopped. They needed to re pack his tummy and also check they had removed all of the damaged bowel.

We felt like we were waiting a life time for a phonecall. A few hours later we got that phonecall....

His internal bleeding had...... completely stopped!

No more NEC was seen on the bowel.

Now its time to let him rest for a few days. Monday's here and they're talking about doing his stoma, off they go to theatre but something is wrong with the intubation tube so the surgery is cancelled.

Tuesday now and he's all set ready to go for his 3rd surgery at just 15 days old.

The wait for this surgery felt like forever, even worse than the last, but we sat waiting and waiting. 3 hours pass and out he comes and he did amazing, he did have a reaction to plasma before the surgery started and had to have a little cpr.

Let's skip forward a few days now. It's been 11 days since Vinnie had his first surgery and was given 2 hours. He's come along way since then. He's a little fighter and is soldiering on with each day.

He is our little miracle man and we can't thank all the staff in the nicu enough for what they have done for our boy.

All funds raised will be split equally between St Mary's neonatal unit and Ronald Mcdonald House Manchester. RMHM have kindly provided us with a room to live in whilst vinnie is at St Mary's and we do not need to leave until he is discharged.

RMHM provide so much and more. Unless you are in a situation like ourselves you won't understand the thought and care given by them.

We have a room, we are given towels, there is a kitchen with 5 kitchens within it which includes all pots, pans, cutlery everything you need. They have a pantry with food that you can take at anytime. We all have our own storage cupboard, fridge and freezer.

It is kid friendly with a huge garden with a large amount of outdoor toys. A play room full of toys. Party days and events for the children to keep them entetained.

We can't thank everyone enough for what they have done for us.

Every penny helps even if it's only a £1.

Thank you for your support